The Weekender: Singapore Formula 1

Hey guys! Back with a weekend re-cap (2 weeks late). Last week when I was getting ready to blog, I realized Michael had taken the computer with him to Hong Kong for the week so I had no way of uploading photos from the camera (I think this has happened one, or 3 times before). 

I have a recap of our fun-filled trip to HK this past weekend, but I couldn't miss out on the opportunity to recap our first Singapore Formula 1 experience (with our good friends J + P). See, look at how happy Michael is! Thumbs up, yo!     

The Singapore Grand Prix is a major event in the city. They set up for weeks and weeks preparing for and hyping the event. The unique thing about the Singapore race is that is runs literally through the city, not around a track. It is really crazy to witness as we often drive, run and ride our bikes all over the same area. 

Most of the F1 tickets are sold in 3-day packages, so we had tickets for Friday's practice session, Saturday prelims and the final event on Sunday night. To get fueled up (pun intended) for the action on Saturday, we had a wonderful (and sweaty) brunch down on Keppel Bay. We ate at this super cute cafe situated on a beautiful marina where all the rich and famous people park their yachts. Michael and I had never been to this part of the island so it was neat to walk around and explore a bit. Minus the crazy Asian skyscrapers, it all felt very Caribbean. 

Me + Jo + our friend Mag who lives in SG

Showing off more of the sights - pit stop (I'm on a roll) to the Maxwell Hawker and a stroll through China Town checking out the beautiful flowers up for the Mid-Autumn festival. 

Back to the action...

There was plenty to do and see in-between races: food, games, souvenir shopping, live music (hello J-Lo, John Legend and Robbie Williams), etc. In true Singapore fashion, it was all very organized and enjoyable (and expen$ive). Singapore has a lot of pride and excitement in hosting such an awesome event year after year. 

I quickly discovered taking photos at an F1 is a little like photographing fireworks. You try and take a million pics but it is never, ever as awesome as the real thing live. Not even close. I know zero about cars and even less about F1, but it was really very enjoyable and exciting to watch. 

With much conviction I quickly declared that 'Lewis Hamilton is my favorite driver.' To which Michael slowly rolled his eyes and explained that quote, that is like saying Tom Brady is your favorite football player, end quote. After some quick googling I discovered that Lewis Hamilton is dating  Nicole Scherzinger from the Pussy Cat Dolls so yes Michael, he IS my favorite driver. (Spoiler alert: Hamilton won the race, btw)

The Red Bull team had the coolest looking cars, if there is a prize for that. Zoom! 

We walked around and scouted out multiple areas of the track to watch from. It was kind of a fun little game, much more fun than sitting in our seats for an entire race. 

Fun fact: Singapore Grand Prix is the only location to do a night race. 

Our view from the Bay Grandstand at night. Everyone talks about how loud the cars are. They are VERY loud, but from what I understand they are using some new hybrid engine or fuel or something so they are about half as loud as they used to me. Very loud, but ear plugs not necessary. 

It was a great weekend to be in Singapore. So happy we were able to experience the event with good friends. See you in Monaco next year!? ;)

Lots of love from Singapore. 

XO,

CD

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The Weekender: Bali + Ubud

Howdy ya'll.

This past weekend we had the pleasure of spending 2.5 days in Bali with our NYC friends Joanna + Paul. J and I worked closely together for 3 years when Michael and I were back in NY. It was an action-packed, fun-filled weekend to say the least. Recap below - 

Beaches and rice fields - that's what Bali does! As you may recall, Michael and I visited Bali back in May when the Duvall's were out in Asia. This time around we spent our time in two totally different areas of the island (Bali is pretty big): Seminyak + Ubud. The former being the beach, the latter the rice fields.

P is a constant traveler + A-list Starwood member, so we ended up staying in this unreal MTV Real World-esque suite at the W. Three cheers for the W Retreat + Spa in Seminyak. So very LUXE. 

After a wonderful dinner on the beach on Friday evening, we were up early for our big adventure to Ubud, which is near the center of the island. The traffic was pretty bad (about a 2hr journey by car), but certainly worth it. Monkeys, temples and rice paddies, oh my! 

Ubud monkey forest - much more of a high stress environment than I envisioned. The monkeys are cute but super mean and ornery.  Lots of cute new babies though! 

Next up was a very sweaty hike through the rice fields to our lunch spot - Sari Organik. Great fresh food and a picturesque view.

After lunch our guide took us to another amazing look out point. Ubud is unreal natural beauty - photos don't even do it justice. Our guide for the day, Wayan, was honestly one of the nicest humans I have ever met - if you ever travel to the area and are looking for a local Ubud guide, let me know. The Balinese people are so incredibly kind.  

Our second to last stop was at the Temple of Holy Water. Our guide was very excited to show us the place. He often goes there with his wife and children. 

(Our guide noted it was more than okay to take photos - and I was stealth). Here people are participating in a cleansing ritual and offering. The sounds, sites and smells were like nothing I have ever seen. The Hindu religion is very open and welcoming - our guide noted foreigners are welcome to take part in the ritual as well. (Wayan is down there in the bottom right corner!)

Note pictured, the massive koi fish swimming among the people :) 

Final stop at the Kopi Luwak coffee plantation to end the day. (yes, the famed 'poop' coffee) 

Sunday was a much deserved relaxing day by the water. 

Dream life: walking on the beach with 3 golden retrievers.  

How cute is this place? One more lunch and we were sadly headed back to Singapore.

Random: petrol sold in Absolute vodka bottles are a very common sight. 

Wow. Another top weekend in the books! Until next time...

XO,

CD

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Bangkok, Thailand: Part II

Remember that time our friends the Fitzs came over to Asia? I can't tell if it feels like yesterday, or a year ago. A final recap of events... 

As you may recall we had the best time on our first day in Bangkok. Saturday afternoon I was exhausted after our trip to the market and was laying down for a nap and scrolling through my instagram feed. I came across a photo from a magazine in Singapore that I follow. Two words: Elephant. Polo. After some googling and convincing the rest of the group this was a real thing, we made big plans to check it out the next day. We were fully sceptical with a hint of excitement during our 40 min, $8 taxi journey to get there. It was quite possibly the coolest, strangest, best thing I have ever seen in my life. It was for a great cause, we met a lot of cool people (2 people who had lived in Kansas! weird?) and got our moneys worth at the VIP tent. All-in-all a top 10 day. 

So, a little background from the organizers :

The welfare of the elephants participating in the polo tournament is paramount, with strict rules in place to ensure that the pachyderms are well cared for at all times. Thanks to Thailand’s advanced micro-chipping programme for all legal domesticated elephants and research into DNA tagging, by imposing a “no micro-chip, no game” rule, Anantara guarantees that all elephants who play have been domestically bred and not captured from the wild or smuggled in from neighbouring countries. 

In addition to the 30 rescued street elephants who now enjoy a comfortable lifestyle at Anantara Golden Triangle Resort & Spa’s onsite Elephant Camp, the annual event allows a further 50 young elephants to be taken off the streets for the two week period during the tournament, providing them with a native forest environment, the best food possible, as well as the only proper veterinary check and vitamins they receive all year.

Anantara always ensures that the elephants are treated as well as our two-legged guests, while the event also plays a crucial role in raising much needed funds to help protect all of Thailand’s elephants and their heritage. This important work is carried out by Anantara’s own elephant charity – the Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation (GTAEF).

For more info. visit their website here.

First stop - elephant petting! Gah!

I love this pic :)

It didn't take long for the boys to purchase and promptly change into team jerseys.  

Line change. 

What a fun day - this was one for the books. 

Sunday evening we had a wonderful (and omg spicy) Thai dinner and checked out some of the night life. I kid you not we walked past at least 5 bars and they were ALL playing Oasis cover songs. Ha.

Monday it was up and at'em to check out some of Thailand's famous temples. We went to the Grand Palace and Wat Arun. This is the part where I become an absolutely horrible blogger and tell you to check out the wikipedia pages for the history behind the temples. 

In short, the Grand Palace was build in 1782 for the Kings of Siam. It is not necessarily one palace, but a bunch of buildings. I understand the monarchy no longer lives there, but the Palace is used for a variety of official events. It was also built as a newer more LUXE location to house the famed Emerald Buddha. We checked it out and it was stunning - and a little smaller than I expected (no photos allowed). I loved all of the spires - which are a major part of Thailand's architecture and culture. 

See us down there? 

This white-ish one was my favorite. 

In Bangkok they had a bunch of huge billboards off the highway and various signs stating 'Buddha is for respecting - not tattoo, furniture, souvenir,' etc. It is apparently against Thai law to purchase and take a Buddha statue out of the country. They greatly frown upon the buying and selling of Buddha souvenirs (even though they are everywhere?) as it is taken as a sign of disrespect. Kissing Buddha is also a no-no. So next time you see someone rollin' around with a Buddha ankle tatt... people are serious. The more you know, kids.    

The details and level of LUXE was insanity. ("Luxe" kind of became a running joke, but seriously there is no better way to describe it). 

Cheese! 

Quick long-boat trip across the river to Wat Arun. Not going to lie, E and I were white-knuckling the 5 min journey. I watched a TV show once where a girl was riding a similar boat somewhere in Thailand and water accidentally splashed up into her mouth and she got really sick and died. I probably shouldn't have told everyone that story. (we ate dinner on the water right back there at Sala Sunday night! the view of the Wat at night was outstanding)

One more temple...plus a hike.

After our last day in Bangkok, we all flew back to Singapore for a feast of delivery Indian food and Varsity Blues. What an amazing, memorable, weird, fantastic trip. We can't tell you how much we enjoy it when friends and family come to Asia to visit. Until next time...  

XO,

CD

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